To have a home of her own…
That had become something of an obsession for Su Li.
In both her past and present lives, she had always been like a rootless duckweed, drifting through the world with nothing to rely on.
She had no home, no place to call her own, no sense of security or belonging.
She worked so hard to make money just so she could one day buy a place of her own—a space that truly belonged to her.
Unfortunately, this was S City, where the lowest housing price was sixteen thousand yuan per square meter.
And more than that, she had a dream—one where she made tons and tons of money, enough to buy a super big, super luxurious house at the top of the city.
Then she would bring back all the stray cats and dogs who, like her, had no place to go, and give them a safe haven.
To do that, she had to earn even more money.
A standalone villa cost around ninety-eight million yuan, with a unit price of about 181,146 yuan per square meter.
Yet the money she earned from Jin Ke’er only totaled a little over three million—barely 1/30 of what she needed for that villa.
And every time she saw a child with a similar fate to hers who needed help, she couldn’t help but soften and donate some of her money to them.
Truthfully, she didn’t care where she lived—she had no roots in this world.
But rather than venturing into some unfamiliar place, she chose to stay here and keep moving forward.
To have a home of her own—that would be something truly magical…
To her, it would be like proof that she was really alive.
Su Li couldn’t help but picture herself in a large, spacious room, surrounded by cats and dogs living together peacefully, no longer wandering aimlessly like she had once done.
Maybe… Su Li would have to move out soon.
There was no real reason for her to keep living with Chi Qingya anymore.
She could afford to rent and live on her own now.
She just hadn’t brought it up yet, out of gratitude—gratitude for how Chi Qingya had taken her in when she was at her lowest and most helpless.
But relationships between people always had an end, just like her connections with other clients.
……
There were no classes that afternoon.
When Su Li got home, the place was pitch-black—the lights hadn’t been turned on.
It wasn’t hard to guess: Chi Qingya had probably gone out to dinner with her girlfriends again.
Su Li glanced at the groceries she had bought and set them down on the table.
She didn’t turn on the lights. She just leaned back on the couch.
Going out to dinner was actually a good thing.
At least it meant she wouldn’t have to deal with the mess Chi Qingya usually made.
And thankfully, this time the dinner was happening outside the house.
Otherwise, the one buying groceries and cooking would’ve been her.
And the one washing the dishes and cleaning up afterward would’ve been her too.
Chi Qingya never cleaned up after herself.
As for asking her girlfriends to help clean?
She wouldn’t dare—she had her image to maintain.
In the end, all the burden would fall on Su Li.
If Chi Qingya hosted a dinner at home, Su Li wouldn’t even be allowed to stay in the apartment.
Her girlfriends would barge into her room and mess with her things.
Even though Su Li had brought it up to Chi Qingya many times, she never cared.
If she really cared, would the apartment still be covered in trash?
When two people lived together, chores usually fell to the one who couldn’t stand the mess any longer.
And Su Li, being the guest, while Chi Qingya was the one making all the mess…
It was just unfortunate that most of the groceries she bought this time would probably go to waste.
Chi Qingya was extremely picky about food.
She never ate leftovers.
Every meal had to be the freshest possible, even if she couldn’t tell what was fresh and what wasn’t.
If she thought something wasn’t fresh, she wouldn’t touch it.
Either Su Li would have to deal with the leftovers, or the food would go straight to the trash.
If the meal didn’t suit her taste, she’d scold Su Li just like she always did.
And you couldn’t repeat the same menu within a short time.
She didn’t even know how to cook, but still made all kinds of ridiculous comments—
Too little salt, why add sugar, use more soy sauce, and so on.
And the worst part—Chi Qingya never paid for any of it.
She assumed Su Li should cover everything.
Back when Su Li had just moved in, Chi Qingya had offered to pay a couple of times and said thank you.
But after that, every time Su Li brought up money, Chi Qingya would say, “Didn’t I already give you money?”
“What did you even do with it? How did you spend it so fast?”
“Just wait, okay? You know I’m just a student. I don’t have much money. You’re living and eating with me, can’t you be a little independent and figure something out?”
“Why are you always coming to me?”
Su Li turned on the light, put the extra groceries in the fridge, and casually made herself something to eat.
She wasn’t about to waste food.
Just because Chi Qingya didn’t want to eat it didn’t mean there was anything wrong with it.
She could always eat it herself later.
Eating food that wasn’t fresh enough for Chi Qingya wasn’t a problem—as long as she wasn’t the one eating it.
In fact, if Su Li was willing to eat it, it would only serve to highlight Chi Qingya’s own refinement.
When Su Li was alone, she rarely had the energy or desire to make multiple dishes.
It wasn’t about trying to please Chi Qingya—she just found it troublesome.
She didn’t care much about how food tasted.
Even when she’d ordered that spicy boiled fish before, it wasn’t because she loved the dish—it was more like a small reward, a way to affirm something she’d done, a gesture of self-recognition.
And even when ordering takeout, though Su Li had enough money now to get by, she still couldn’t choose anything too expensive.
Because that would just give Chi Qingya something to lash out over—calling her ungrateful, heartless, secretly eating good food alone at home.
Chi Qingya would start lecturing her about how hard it was for a student to rent a place like this, how expensive the rent was, how long the money spent on a single meal could’ve lasted if she’d cooked instead, and how Su Li had never contributed a single cent to the household.
It would all end with, “I’m doing this for your own good. Takeout is bad for your health.”
Never mind that Chi Qingya never cooked either and ordered takeout every day whenever she wasn’t home.
Su Li didn’t really feel upset about it.
It was just tiring to hear the same speech repeated over and over.
She decided to keep it simple for dinner, but there were still leftovers after she finished eating.
So she went to her room, got a small bowl, scooped the leftovers into it, and headed downstairs with the bowl in her hands.
In the stairwell, the sound of a man and a woman arguing echoed through the space—something she had long since gotten used to.
If they had real money, they probably wouldn’t be living here.
From what she knew, the building she and Chi Qingya lived in had a single landlord.
She’d once seen an elegant, mature woman holding a large ring of keys, unlocking one of the luxury cars parked downstairs and driving off.